


Everyone Deserves a Home

by galactic_magic



Series: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader One-Shots [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Animals, Christmas, Doggos - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Henderson!Reader, I think I'm addicted to writing Steve fluff, kitties, rip Mews
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21641281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galactic_magic/pseuds/galactic_magic
Summary: You go to the animal shelter with Steve at Christmastime.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Reader
Series: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554097
Kudos: 28





	Everyone Deserves a Home

You hop into the passenger’s seat of your boyfriend’s car, instinctively leaning in for a kiss. He smiles against your lips and doesn’t pull away until you do.

“So, where to?” he asks.

“I heard the animal shelter is having an open house today, that might be fun,”

“Sounds good to me,” Steve grins and puts a hand on your shoulder as he backs out of the driveway.

This is fairly normal for the two of you, he just calls you and asks if you want to go out and then you decide on somewhere on a whim. If you’re hungry you go out to eat, and if you’re both broke you have a picnic. You’ve visited every place worth visiting in the small town of Hawkins, as well as every place that isn’t. Sometimes when you can’t think of anything to do, you’ll just go on a walk with him in the woods. It really doesn’t matter to either of you what you’re doing or where you are, as long as you’re together.

Today, though, you know exactly what you want to do. You’ve been missing Mews a lot recently, so when you saw an ad for some cats and dogs in need of adoption, going to the shelter is all you’ve wanted to do. Maybe petting animals for an hour or so will make you feel better.

-

As soon as you walk in the door, your smile is so wide it reaches your eyes. You squeal at the cuteness of all the kittens and puppies near the front. You pull Steve with you to the fences, many of the puppies already trying to crawl up to see both of you.

A fluffy chocolate-colored puppy wags their tail and looks up at Steve.

“I think that one likes you,” you giggle, pointing to it.

“Aw, he’s adorable,” he picks the puppy up gently and runs his fingers through its fur.

You fluff up the thick fur around its head, “Looks a bit like you,”

“Very funny,” he slowly puts the dog down and gets distracted by some of the other ones.

You head over to the kittens on the other side of the room, high pitched meows filling your ears. Many of them are rolling around or swiping at yarn balls, some scratching at the fence. You pick up an orange kitten and it starts liking at your fingers. It clings to your shirt with its tiny claws and purrs softly. It looks so much like Mews did as a kitten, and honestly you’re not sure you can bear constantly being reminded that your cat was viciously eaten by a demagorgon.

Steve comes up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist, “That one’s cute,”

“Yeah, it’s just-“ you sigh as you carefully put the kitten back on the floor.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he kisses your cheek and holds you tighter. Steve never really knew Mews, since he didn’t really become close with you and Dustin until after she died, but he’s seen pictures and you’ve told him about her. “You wanna take a look at some of the older cats?”

“Sure,” you nod, allowing him to take your hand and walk you down the hall.

There’s a room full of crates with cats of all kinds and ages. Most of them are rescue, some that had owners that passed away or couldn’t take care of them anymore. You run up to the little doors and pet as many kitties as you can, many of them purring, some growling a bit. Steve nearly jumps out of his skin when one hisses at him, making you chuckle.

You come across one black cat huddled in the corner of his crate, lifting his head slightly when he sees you. He’s missing an eye and he’s pretty skinny.

“What happened to this one?” you ask the worker feeding one of the cats nearby.

“We’re not completely sure, actually. Someone brought him in, said they found him in the snow on the side of the road,” she says. “He’s been pretty shy, but you can try holding him if you want,” You nod vigorously. The worker opens the crate door and places the cat carefully in your arms. He purrs almost immediately on contact, closing his one eye and rubbing his head against you. You’re nearly brought to tears at the sweetness.

“I love him,”

“He’s not available for adoption just yet because we still need to get him healthy, but in a few weeks you’re welcome to come back,” You look up at Steve, who seems to have equally fallen in love with the cat. He meows at Steve and reaches his paw out.

“Does he want me?”

“I think so,” you laugh, handing the cat over. Steve looks like he’s about to melt as the cat claws his sweater, purring and nuzzling his face into him. “Does he have a name?”

“He didn’t have a collar, but one of my co-workers likes to call him Anakin, say he looks like scarred Darth Vader from the last Star Wars movie,”

You smile, “I like that,”

-

It’s Christmas Eve. You, Dustin, and your mom are watching some old Christmas movie on the TV and eating probably way too many Christmas cookies. The house smells of pine, citrus, and sugar, and your fingertips are crisp from the cold.

The animal shelter told you they’d call you when Anakin was healthy enough to be taken home, and you still haven’t gotten a call in the last few weeks. You’re starting to worry maybe something happened to him or someone else got him.

The doorbell rings, and you get up to answer it.

“Hey beautiful,” Steve catches your lips before you even have the chance to process him standing in your doorway.

“Hi,” you exhale. You notice he has one arm behind his back, and he tries to hide it by leaning against the frame.

“I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, I want to give you your present now,” he runs his other hand through his hair. “Turn around, okay?” You comply, hearing him come inside and set down whatever he had after closing the door.

“Is that Steve sweetie?” your mom calls.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Steve covers your eyes and guides you back to your living room. “Keep your eyes closed, okay? I’ll bring it in here,”

Dustin and your mom gasp, and you swear you can hear a familiar meow.

“Okay, open your eyes,” You almost scream as you see none other than Anakin step out of a crate. He looks straight at you and meows again, showcasing a red collar with his name on it.

“You got him for me?”

“Of course,”

Dustin and your mom kneel on the floor, smiling and petting him.

“Steve, he’s wonderful, thank you,” your mom says.

“Well, I mean I know how hard it’s been since Mews got-“ Dustin gives Steve a glare, reminding him how your mom didn’t actually know what happened. “-lost,”

You’re not sure whether to laugh or cry of happiness. You run to Steve’s side and bury your face in his chest, hugging him close. You feel something tug at your pants, looking down to see Anakin meowing up at you. You pick him up and hold him between you, his purrs filling the room.

“How can I ever thank you for this?”

“I’m sure I can think of something,” he winks, running his fingers down your arm and kissing the crown of your head. “Merry Christmas sweetheart,”

“Merry Christmas Steve,”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave feedback :)  
> Come find me on tumblr @galactic-magick !


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